Cigar Bar (4 page)

The Range took off and turned around. It sped through a one-way street, over a lawn, and down the sidewalk. There was no way anyone could have caught them.

Paulie dove from the car and jumped to the sidewalk when he saw the truck turn around. He took position and fired six shots into the truck, not knowing if he had hit anyone as the truck disappeared. He ran around to the front, pulled what was left of his driver’s body from the car, and threw it onto the ground. He did the same with the guy in the back. One man jumped up and got into the front seat. Paulie put the car in drive and took off in the opposite direction.

People began to emerge from their houses in bathrobes, looking and pointing. Everybody had cell phones and they were talking to 911 dispatchers.

One said, “Oh my God! There are bodies in the street!”

“I heard about ten shots!” said another.

Yet another said, “Please hurry!”

The bystanders gave their summaries to the operators about what had happened, and, before long, sirens blared from every direction.

Paulie had gotten hit with buckshot shells, but it wasn’t as bad as some of the others. He thought,
Gotdamn, this shit hurts like a motherfucker!
He knew that he couldn’t go to his house, so he headed to his safe house. He contemplated all the madness that had happened in the past eight hours with his little sister and how, now, somebody wanted him dead. He didn’t think that Spazo was crazy enough to come to his block to try to serve him.

Paulie now realized that he had underestimated him.

Tony

After being pulled over and messed with, Frankie received a huge surprise. The cops were the narcs that his family had in their pockets. They made Tony crap some more and Frankie piss his pants. Their car was the worst car to be in at the moment.

One said, “You know, Frankie, you and your cousin gotta be more careful now. What if we were the real police? We followed you from the pier to up here.”

“Yeah, we were fuckin’ crackin’ up at your cousin. We saw him pass out and lean on the fuckin’ horn. Those fuckers were gonna kill both of you!” another joked. “We laughed so hard that there was no fuckin’ way we could have saved you.”

“Ha-ha! Very fuckin’ funny,” Frankie said as he reached into his briefcase. He pulled out two stacks of cash, handing one to each man.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I pissed my fuckin’ pants when you fuckers decided to have a little fuckin’ fun! I think my cousin shit himself again!”

The two cops were contorted with laughter. They laughed so hard that they couldn’t stand up. They were laughing hysterically. “Oh my God!” one of them said between squeals of hilarity.

“
Fuck
both of you!” Frankie said, storming off. He then smelled the putrid odor again. “Let’s go!” They pulled off and headed toward Frankie’s place.

Frankie basically had the same setup at his house that Tony had. His spot was also in the back of the house, but it looked like a miniature palace.

As Tony took a well-needed shower, Frankie took the opportunity to call Monique. “Hey, my little chocolate bar! Are you ready for me?” he asked as he sniffed a line of coke from the dresser while lighting a Marlboro.

“Shit, I’m ready, Daddy, are you?” Monique replied.

“Yeah, but listen. There’s been a slight change of plans…”

Monique asked, “Oh, and what’s that?”

“My cousin is here and he’s gonna party with us,” Frankie replied.

She said, “Oh, I don’t know. Let me ask my girl.” She turned to Dawn and said, “Dawn, Frankie says his cousin is there. I never saw him before, so I don’t know… You want to?”

“Well, tell him if he ain’t worth my trip, we could stay right here.”

Frankie cut in. “I hear her and, trust me, I hate to say it, but when you see him, you may not wanna fuck with me anymore. He’s one of those
extra
good-looking guys. I fuckin’ hate going places with him, so trust me when I tell you, you’re fine.”

“Okay then. We’ll meet you at the bridge in about two hours, okay?”

“No problem, baby. I’ll see you then.”

“I need some clothes, Frankie, and all you wear is this tight WOP shit! I’m disappointed in you, cuz. You fuckin’ justify the Italian stereotype!” Tony snapped.

“Hey, I like dressing like this, okay, so fuck you! Go naked, for all I care!” He then walked over to the closet, grabbed his cousin a navy blue sweatsuit, and threw it on the bed. “Now, cuz, don’t shit in my clothes! By the way, what the hell did you do with that shitty shit you had on?”

“I double-bagged it and threw it in your neighbor’s trash,” Tony replied.

“My neighbor to the right or to the left? Because the one on the left can kiss my ass, and the one on the right could suck my dick, but she won’t. Fuck both of them! Now are you ready to go, my man?

“Let’s do it.”

The men jumped in Frankie’s car, but before they left, Frankie handed the other briefcase to Tony. “Do me a favor, cuz, and hold on to this for me,” he said, winking.

Tony took the briefcase and shoved it in his trunk, then he got back into Frankie’s car, and they headed to Harlem.

Frankie said, “Listen, Tony, I need you to take some of that money I gave you and buy a new car. The one you got now is all fucked up after your
incident
.”

“Yeah, good idea,” Tony responded. “So, what do these girls look like?”

“Well, I saw a pic of the other one, and what the fuck I saw amazed me!”

“Cool. I don’t deal with
ugly
, cuz.”

“Trust me, Tony, I know,” Frankie said, smiling.

The men laughed as they drove and talked. They arrived on 155 Street, the Polo Grounds. They pulled up next to the train stop. Out of nowhere, one of Spazo’s boys jumped into the backseat of their car and put a pistol to the backs of their heads.

“Drive down the block, white boy, and keep your hands on the steering wheel,” the man barked, “and yours on the dash!”

“Oh shit! What the fuck, dude?” Frankie asked, but he did what he was told.

As they drove down the block, two more guys came out and hustled them into the building. They rode an elevator all the way up to the 12th floor. The elevator doors opened to an apartment that was occupied by GC. Inside was an enormous flat-screen television that had remote-controlled surround-sound. There was a plush couch facing a window with a view of Harlem.

Spazo was in the kitchen preparing fried chicken. He had an apron on to protect his clothes, and he had Jodeci playing in the background. Sitting on the couch were four of the prettiest women they had ever seen. Each one was lounging there, smoking blunts.

As they walked in, Spazo spoke. “Are you guys hungry? We like to eat around here.” The men looked around and saw six or so people in various places eating macaroni and cheese, collard greens, golden fried chicken, and sweet cornbread.

Spazo was also in college, studying the culinary arts. He loved to cook but loved even more when people ate his food and had a surprised look on their faces because it was so surprisingly delicious.

“No, we’re fine. Hey, Spazo, how did you know we were here?”

Spazo dropped a piece of raw chicken in a bowl that contained eggs and then into another bowl that held his special batter. He replied, “This is
my
house. I see every fuckin’ thing.”

Frankie muttered, “Whatever, man.” He pulled out an envelope filled with cash.

One of Spazo’s boys came over and took the envelope. “Do I gotta count my money, Frankie?”

Frankie looked around at all the men with guns and said, “Do you think I would be that stupid to come up here and try some shit with you, man?”

Spazo looked at him and laughed. “Yes, motherfucker, I do, because you’ve done it before.”

Frankie replied, “Yeah, but never to you. I mean, I know my limits.”

“Spazo said, “Okay, but do me a favor. Have a plate to go. You’ll love it. Trust me! You can’t live on drugs alone.”

“Nah, we’re good, but thanks. We got some shit to do, so if you don’t mind, we’d like to go.”

“Fair enough,” Spazo replied.

The same guy came back with a duffel bag and handed it to Frankie. “What the fuck was all that shit?” Tony asked as he and Frankie got back into their car.

“What do you mean, cuz?” Frankie inquired.

“First, tell me you didn’t pull some shit on them, now, did you?”

Frankie assured Tony, “No, cuz, we cool.”

“Cool. And now, where do we go from here?”

“To meet our dates, my man.” Frankie turned around and jumped right back on Harlem River Drive and headed back to the bridge. It was a quick trip. When they arrived, Monique and Dawn were outside in the back.

“Holy shit!” both men exclaimed when they saw the brown-skin beauties.

When Tony got out of the car, both women got a little weak in the knees. Dawn took a deep breath.

“Dayum!”
Monique cooed. “This is your cousin?”

With a bright smile, Dawn reached her hand out, but she was too slow. Monique beat her to it.

“Hi, I’m Mo and you are a fine-ass white boy! Where the hell did they make dat ass at?”

The trio began to laugh, except for Frankie. He had been playing second fiddle to Tony his entire life. Whenever Tony came around, nobody acknowledged him at all. It wasn’t that Frankie was a bad-looking guy; it was that Tony was extremely good-looking, and women threw themselves at him out in the open. They never even cared what other people thought of them acting out in public.

Frankie just wished that one day he could feel what Tony felt every day. “Fuck that!” he said under his breath. He knew a way to grab the girls’ attention. “Hey, Mo, look at this!” he said, pulling out about ten stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

“Oh shit! Damn, baby, now that is what I call pretty!
Fuck!
” She swiftly changed direction and headed toward the money and everybody laughed.

Dawn was still looking into Tony’s deep-blue eyes. “Okay, let’s get the fuck off the corner!” she said, shaking her head and snapping out of the Tony trance that she had fallen under.

Tony smiled. This happened to him quite often, but there was something different about this one. He was transfixed by her beauty. He looked her in the eyes as he headed for the car. “Dawn, the feeling is mutual, love.”

She smiled and she and Tony got into the backseat together. Monique sat up front with Frankie.

“So, what’s the next move, Frankie?” asked Monique.

“Reach under your seat.”

She did, grabbed a paper bag, and opened it. Inside, there was nothing but drugs of every kind—from X to Molly, cocaine, to heroin. Her eyes lit up like a child’s eyes in a toy store.

“Oh my God!” Monique yelled with excitement. She faked having an orgasm and added, “This just made me cum!” She opened the bag and started handing drugs out as they drove across the bridge back to New Jersey.

The ice had been broken. There were no more uncomfortable feelings. In fact, there never was any uneasiness. The four acted as though they had known each other for years, and the fun had begun.

“Dawn, tell me something about yourself. What do you do? Where do you live? How come I’ve never seen you before? Trust me, I woulda remembered you!” Tony said, looking at her with lustful eyes.

She smiled. Dawn enjoyed when men—and women, for that matter—looked at her in that way. With Tony, she lost all inhibition and shyness, especially since Monique had handed out the drugs. Her buzz had her feeling so right. “Fuck telling you about me! I gotta say it, Tony. I’m wondering what it might look like to see you down there looking up at me as you eat my fuckin’ pussy.”

He was a bit hesitant. He smiled, then let out a short laugh. The hesitancy left him when he looked at her pretty face and down at her sexy-ass body. Tony pushed her backward and mounted her as he kissed her slowly. She was in heaven. Dawn had never kissed a white guy before, and she was pleased, having zero complaints so far.

Tony worked methodically, kissing her neck softly, then licking downward. Dawn squirmed with desire in the backseat. Up in the front seat, Mo was looking at them and getting turned on. She took a sniff of some powder.

“What the fuck is going on back there?” Frankie asked, trying to concentrate on his driving and staying in his lane on the highway. The drugs, along with all the activity in the car, made him swerve. He snatched himself back to the task at hand: getting the two fine women back to his house. “Okay!” he screamed out, “I got it!”

No one else in the car even cared. They were each in the zone. Monique found herself in the front seat tapping the front of her pants as she watched Tony kiss the outside of her friend’s shirt. Dawn moaned out loud as Tony took her breast into his mouth, shirt and all. He did it so seductively that it was as if her breast was being suckled bare. She reached up, grabbed a handful of his hair, and turned his face up.

As he looked at her, she felt her clit pulsate. “Shit!” she slurred. That had never happened to her before.

Tony pulled her shirt up and unbuttoned her pants. He was looking forward to seeing how she tasted. He licked his lips at the sheer thought of it.

Dawn noticed him licking his lips. She, in turn, put one finger into her mouth and simulated a slow sucking. They weren’t even naked, but hearing Chris Brown’s song “No Bullshit” on the radio added to the intensity. Before they could get into it any deeper, Frankie drove around a corner. All they could see from every direction were flashing lights.

“Oh shit!!” The last thing any of the four expected was a DUI stop. Everyone jumped up and sat as straight as possible while Frankie wiped the sweat from his face. He shouted, “Fuck, man! Fuck! Fuck!
Fuck!
We are all fucked!” He looked into Monique’s lap. She was so scared and intoxicated that she forgot and left the entire bag of drugs sitting on her lap. Frankie panicked. “Mo!” he screamed.

She looked down and, in one quick motion, she bent over and shoved the plastic bag up her pussy.

“What the fuck?!” As he approached the intersection, Frankie asked, “Well, you either go to jail or we go home.”